‘Savage State’ Review: Escape to New York

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/28/movies/savage-state-review.html

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“Savage State,” the sophomore feature from the French writer and director David Perrault, is a fascinating oddity: An unconventional western dominated by the desires of women.

Set mainly in 1863, the story follows a family of wealthy French settlers forced to flee their home in Missouri when the youngest daughter, Esther (Alice Isaaz), angers a Union soldier. The American Civil War, though, is only a distant background to their arduous trek across the country to New York, where they plan to board a ship to France. Accompanied by their mercenary guide, Victor (Kevin Janssens), the family is soon frayed by internal problems and external dangers. Not the least of these is Victor’s nemesis, an implacable female bandit (Kate Moran) with a score to settle and a romantic obsession to satisfy.

Though hardly lacking drama — an illicit love affair; a deadly illness; several murders — “Savage State” proceeds with a strange sort of calm, a stately deliberation that belies the urgency of the family’s flight. As symbolism supplants narrative, the movie develops a dreamy, allegorical quality that dulls the action and dilutes the emotions. This frees up time, though, to admire Christophe Duchange’s coolly beautiful visuals, like a bloom of discarded white dresses floating down a mountainside, or a band of outlaws dancing eerily in the firelight.

A muffled meditation on betrayal and lost innocence, “Savage State” too often neglects to fully establish relationships before coaxing them to crisis. Yet as Esther fixates on the squirrelly Victor, and the family’s Black servant (an indomitable Armelle Abibou) braves white-hooded bandits, Perrault sustains a desolate vision of a country where old ways are dying and heroes are in short supply.

Savage StateNot rated. In French and English, with subtitles. Running time: 2 hours. Rent or buy on Apple TV, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.